As the mass of a particular vehicle (air, ground, or water) increases, the efficiency and agility of the vehicle decreases. Therefore, it is desirable to limit the masses of vehicles in order to increase the efficiency and agility of the vehicles. Accordingly, in armored vehicles, i.e. vehicles that have protection against projectiles, the desire to limit the vehicles' masses conflicts with the desire to provide protection against ballistic impact. Therefore, it is desirable to develop armors that are both lightweight and provide sufficient protection against projectiles.
Many armor systems use hard ceramic materials as part of ballistic protection. Ceramics have the advantage of being both lightweight and hard. However, one disadvantage of ceramic materials is that ceramic materials are often brittle and susceptible to premature failure and cracking when struck by a projectile. This cracking occurs due to shock waves that travel through the ceramic during an initial impact. Accordingly, there is a need for mechanisms for reducing or modifying the initial shock waves in order to improve the performance of ceramic armor.